iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Eyes Off ALX @eyesoffalx.org · 5h

We attended APD’s discussion on Flock tonight. Despite countless articles, damning senate testimony, and more, APD still isn’t advocating for Flock to be canceled TODAY. Parting ways with a discredited vendor is the bare minimum for leadership to ensure safety. Please share if you agree.

182

Eyes Off ALX @eyesoffalx.org · 11h

#ALXSkeets Can you spare an hour tonight? APD is hosting a Flock community listening session @ 6:30. Right now there is no clear timeline to move forward with change. Urgency to act comes from people showing up and sharing their concerns. Please help fill the room @ the Patrick Henry Rec Center!

And, sorry to be a broken record, but this MUST change the risk calculus for how our city approaches 24-hour surveillance systems. Especially when such cameras are in protest locations. The data that is created can easily (and lawfully) be obtained by the Feds with a mere flimsy justification.

Meanwhile, ALX still uses Flock, a ALPR vendor who other law enforcement just testified to the Senate was engaging in "disinformation" and "dishonesty." If APD policing mentality is reduced to the ends justify the means, how does that make our community safer or more trusting? Answer: It does not.

This far from settles the ALPR debate. Using a tool IS NOT evidence the tool was necessary: police here also had a witness, private camera footage, and ballistics. Actual scaled research assessing if ALPRs raise case closure rates, especially for violent crime, is thin and has no clear correlation.

050

140

Dr. Evil's Iconic Muhahaha Laugh

Big model number, better model number, brightest model number, MOST BRILLIANT MODEL NUMBER.

static.klipy.com

ALT: Dr. Evil's Iconic Muhahaha Laugh

000

Thanks for covering, @ryanbelmore.com. We’d also reached out to the auditor on ALPRs and been surprised by the silence. This update is helpful.

Indeed. Not good. No reason to think ALX has a MOU feeding HIDTA (would hope that’d be disclosed already). But the slow, changing, incomplete info ALX residents have gotten on ALPRs doesn’t build confidence. Especially w/ Flock contract STILL(!) active... I see sending a FOIA in our near future …

The Alexandria Brief @alexandriabrief.com · 30/09/2026

Reposted by Eyes Off ALX

An automated license plate reader system goes live Friday in the parking garage at Park + Ford, a 435-unit apartment building on Ford Avenue, over the objections of 109 residents who signed a petition asking management to stop it.

dlvr.it

License plate readers go live Friday at a West End apartment building

A petition signed by 109 residents asked Bozzuto to stop the rollout. Metropolis says its platform is opt-in; the building told residents an account is required to keep parking.

063

EyesOffAlx.org has a draft email you can use to message city council with your thoughts. Please use it (or draft your own) to prevent ALX from following Denver’s path and skirting real public input.

Eyes Off ALX works to ensure Alexandria, VA's technology decisions protect residents' privacy, security, and rights. Current campaign: turn off Flock.

Alexandria police to publish map of Flock camera locations, conduct surveillance systems audit | ALXnow

APD just hired Dr. Robin Engel, who also consulted with Denver, CO on ALPRs. Per ACLU: After Dr. Engel gave her blessing, Denver switched ALPR vendors W/O real input and without creating critical guidelines to protect privacy and personal info. Do you want this for ALX? If not, speak today!

alxnow.com

The Alexandria Police Department will release a map of automated license plate reader (ALPR) camera locations across the city by Oct. 1, the same day that it begins a third-party audit of its surveill...

161

People around ALX “actually don't want convenience at the cost of our privacy, safety and wellness.” It’s just common sense.

040

Trump's in love with “SI” because it's the ultimate yes-man. Making it obvious in Spanish is just his attempt at outreach to Latino voters.

000

“Morally binding” … for infinitely shifting (and shifty) morals. Sounds solid.

APD says ALPRs don't do facial recognition. But once the data exists, third parties can AI-augment it with personalized profiles, including racial and gender analysis. Was that risk weighed before these cameras went up in ALX? No. ALX must take ALPRs down now and build a real review process!

051

Reposted by Eyes Off ALX

👋 Hi there #AlxSkeets! You may have wondered who is behind Eyes Off ALX - We are Alexandria neighbors who nerd out (prob too much) on law, tech, and government. We’re channeling it to help improve our city's tech decisions + protect your privacy, security, and rights. Learn more at EyesOffALX.org!

Eyes Off ALX works to ensure Alexandria, VA's technology decisions protect residents' privacy, security, and rights. Current campaign: turn off Flock.

291

Looks like a trap for giant rats to me…

If you care about how Alexandria picks, uses, and oversees the technology that watches your life, we want to hear from you. Join our mailing list, swing by our next event, or drop us a line at hello@eyesoffalx.org!

Did you know Alexandria rolled out Flock ALPR cameras with no public hearing and no Council vote? Well, we have thoughts (and ACLU-backed suggested reforms) to make sure this doesn’t happen in ALX again. Find out more here: eyesoffalx.org/asks.

Eyes Off ALX works to ensure Alexandria, VA's technology decisions protect residents' privacy, security, and rights. Current campaign: turn off Flock.

Eyes Off ALX works to ensure Alexandria, VA's technology decisions protect residents' privacy, security, and rights. Current campaign: turn off Flock.

291

Eyes Off ALX @eyesoffalx.org · 28/09/2026

Who's behind Eyes Off ALX? Our new About Us page has the answer! In short, Alexandria is home to some of the country's top experts in tech and governance. We're drawing on that local know-how to push for smarter, more accountable tech and oversight in our city, including (but not only) for ALPRs.

Eyes Off ALX works to ensure Alexandria, VA's technology decisions protect residents' privacy, security, and rights. Current campaign: turn off Flock.

Appreciate the feedback!

000

If only we had funding! Nope, just neighbors volunteering their time and expertise to improve our community. Appreciate the suggestion, Ryan. We'll think about adding more about us to the site. It's a bit tricky since advocacy in this space isn't necessarily endorsed by our employers.

100

The only silly question is the one that isn’t asked!

Was chewing on 🥯 & ideas @ Chewish this morning: ALX neighbors who work in privacy, consumer protection, human rights, and tech started Eyes Off ALX. But what do folks in other fields want to know about these topics? Reply, DM, or 📧 hello@eyesoffalx.org. We’re here to spread knowledge & help ALX!

200

Yes, the lack of US data privacy is a big issue. But our local gov can take meaningful action to improve privacy today. Massive amounts of VC money are pouring into surveillance tech companies like Flock BECAUSE that data access is uniquely valuable! It’s not the same as data on your cell phone!

090

Yes, but law enforcement ≠ APD. Chief McGuire is a dedicated public servant, but he & his staff aren't tech/privacy experts. For years they've heard vendor talking points that omitted how easily a vengeful fed agency can get this data by admin subpoena. If the feds target ALX, no guardrail stops it.

All the more reason to support local business. Last I checked, neither Del Ray Hardware nor ACE hardware have flock outside!

*Our local gov can take meaningful action. By getting rid of Flock ALPR + asking ALX if we want surveillance tech as a start. This is not about “cameras”. It’s about unheard community concerns with unasked for, always watching, AI augmented tech that has no empirical crime benefits and many risks.

110

Yes, data privacy (or lack thereof) is a big issue. But being defeatist about tracking when our gov can take meaningful actions to improve privacy is not the answer. Massive amounts of VC money are pouring into surveillance tech companies like Flock b/c this data is uniquely valuable..

150

👏👏👏👏👏💯💯💯💯💯

100%. And beyond whatever marginal safety stats these vendors can show, the city needs to reckon with the other side of claimed safety: network effects concentrate power, which carries real risk. It must plan for vendors whose interests don’t match its own, and respond to those sounding the alarm.

060

Yes - several of these points are part of the policy model we are sharing with the city to push for reform (based on the ACLU’s CCOPS model)! Happy to discuss further if you want to send us an email (hello@eyesoffalx.org) or DM.

If we had a better process, maybe the city would not have recently renewed its Flock ALPR contract - at the same time residents were also raising a host of concerns, national reporting was outlining massive ALPR misuse, and other law enforcement officals had started branding the vendor as dishonest.

221

Totally agree the process for public input and information on such tech is not working. People deserve a say in how we keep our city safe. Especially given judges are not consulted in use of such tech. Nor are civil liberty risks getting weighed during city tech procurement or renewal processes.

111

Eyes Off ALX @eyesoffalx.org · 24/09/2026

We are! And we’re highlighting tech currently used by the police department that is designed to avoid such fourth amendment protections (not to mention installed without reasonable public transparency or other oversight mechanisms). Join us!

120

Alert: Seats still available right now at the APD public meeting re: Flock. If you are in Del Ray, please come to Duncan Library and show APD the community is concerned about unaccountable mass surveillance tech deployed in our city!

Eyes Off ALX @eyesoffalx.org · 24/09/2026

Alert: Eyes Off ALX needs your help TODAY (9/24)! APD’s delayed clarifications on its ALPR policy do NOT acknowledge tech risks/harms. We need folks to show up and demand real accountability. Meet us tonight @ 5:30pm Pork Barrel, then come w/ us to APD’s 6:30pm public session @ Duncan Library!

050

Eyes Off ALX @eyesoffalx.org · 24/09/2026

Yeaaaaaaa. But wiling to overlook given the quality of the content from those testifying at the hearing.

LIVE: Josh Hawley Probes Flock Surveillance Network In Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing

If you want an excellent primer on why Flock needs to get out of ALX (and should not be replaced), watch today’s Senate hearing: www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_yM... We will be sharing key points from the hearing @ the Eyes Off ALX meetup tomorrow, 9/24, 5:30pm at Pork Barrel BBQ. Hope to see you there!

youtube.com

YouTube video by Forbes Breaking News

220

Reposted by Eyes Off ALX

Alert: Eyes Off ALX needs your help tmrw (9/24)! APD’s delayed clarifications on its ALPR policy do NOT acknowledge tech risks/harms. We need folks to show up and demand real accountability. Meet us tmrw, 9/24 @ 5:30pm Pork Barrel, then come w/ us to APD’s 6:30pm public session @ Duncan Library!

174

Appreciate any and all reposts to spread the word for tmrw!

000

Will will also handing out question suggestions @ Pork Barrel that folks can ask APD at their 6:30pm public meeting. Alexandrians deserve real transparency, not efforts that ignore underlying risks. Hope the #alxskeet community can join us!

120

Thanks @beckyhammer.bsky.social. Our team and a national rights org are working to provide city stakehokders w/ concrete info on how to improve public input and staff analysis on mass surveillance issues, risks, and remedies. Meet us at Pork Barrel tmrw, 9/24, at 5:30 pm to learn more!

120

Will will be handing out questions @ Pork Barrel that folks can ask APD to highlight gaps between APD’s efforts at transparency and demonstrated ALPR harms (which so-called guardrails have failed to protect). Alexandrians deserve real transparency, not half-efforts that ignore underlying risks.